Dragons Are Just Like Cats… Who Knew?
Just came back from seeing a film that made me happier than most of the films I”ve seen this year so far, called How to Train Your Dragon from DreamWorks, and it was in 3-D. Imagine! I just came back from a kids film in a medium that I formerly despised, and LOVED it.
The 3-D technology is getting much better! I wasn’t impressed when I saw Up! last year. I mean, I liked the movie, but the 3-D just gave me a headache. I wasn’t impressed. However, let me say that they’re certainly doing a MUCH better job of it.
Train Your Dragon is about a Viking village (which Tellman should like, eh?), but the problem is that the old Viking homestead is plagued by dragons. Not one dragon, but all manner of dragon, and each is highly amusing. The different dragon breeds each have their own special attributes, and some of them are quite interesting. For example, one two-headed dragon has a head that spits out gas, and the other head lights it. Another just lights its whole self on fire, making it really hard to fight.
But the best dragon is the one that the main character , Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel , the nerd boy of She’s Out of My League), finds. Well, he actually shoots it down, and finds it the next day, injured. I won’t tell you the rest, but if that darned dragon didn’t remind me of my bad-to-the-bone cat, Blue. He looks kind of like him. The eyes are right on his, and just the way he acts and reacts is Blue all the way. (If you want to learn more about Blue, you can check him out here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Captivating-Cat-Breeds. He’s a real ham for the camera, too.)
Anyway, the plot of the movie revolves around Hiccup, who’s NOT at all like his hulk of a Viking father, voiced by Gerard Butler. (Man, is he getting a lot of work this year, or what? OK by me. Ha!) Hiccup is the town well… mess up. He tries really hard but gets everything wrong. So, it’s about his coming of age and saving the village. Very simple and very cute.
OK, so it’s not Dangerous Liaisons, but it’s a great little film. I didn’t squirm once in the time it was on the screen, and that’s unusual for me. I mean, I really hate movie theaters, but there’s nothing quite like seeing a film on the big screen, right?
Case in point: We watched the film 9 at the theater when it was out last year, and again the other night on DVD. It’s a really well-done animation film, and though it’s still worth watching on DVD, it was much better on the big screen.
Anyway, if you’re looking for something to do this weekend, and if you have kids that you’re trying to amuse, How to Train Your Dragon is a very good afternoon out. Add a big bucket of popcorn and it’s a blast!
Enjoy!
